Originally Posted by Snicklefritz
(1) Find some shop that might give me a deal on renting a decent racing bike a couple of times per week so I can just take it back to the store when I am done with it.
You could probably use something like Manhattan Mini Storage to store your own bike for less than the cost of renting a bike several times a week.
Some of the larger apartment buildings probably have storage areas for tenants. If not in your parent's building maybe one of the other buildings in the neighborhood? Then there's always balcomies/fire escapes.